With the aim of reviving a traditional folk theatre form of Bengal as well as attracting more people to cultural centres, the state government has planned to host regular jatra shows at the cultural tourism hubs of the state. The target is to take jatra to a global platform. Hence, these elaborate programmes have been planned. Folk artistes from different fringes of Bengal will perform at these tourist spots, a senior official of the state cultural department here today said. The state government’s Paschimbanga Jatra Academy, under the Information and Cultural Affairs Department and the Tourism Department will take a leading role in organising these shows.
The ruling state government led by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, has taken a initiatives to bring back the glory of this storied folk theatre. Theatre personality Chapal Bhaduri has been bestowed with the Banga Bibhushan award this year.
This year, for the first time, the state government has set up booking counters for jatra groups. A book Jatra Darpan is also being released on an annual basis, containing details of different jatras. An exhibition of jatra posters was also organised at Paschimbanga Jatra Academy, where the best three were awarded. The state government gives a yearly grant of Rs 9,000 to many jatra artistes. At present around 10 lakh people are involved in the jatra industry.
With the new initiative taken by the state government, jatras will be the new talk of the town soon in these tourist hotspots.
The state Youth Services and Sports minister, Aroop Biswas, who is also president of Paschimbanga Jatra Academy, said, “The jatra industry had almost lost its glory. After coming to power, the chief minister initiated measures to revive the industry. Now, the average show of each jatra is more than 100 compared to that of only 60 before our government came up with the initiative. ” This year a particular jatra has set an all-time record by performing in 205 shows. Now, our target is to take jatra to a global platform. So organising jatras at cultural hubs will be beneficial as people would get a whiff of Bengal’s soil through the state’s very own folk theatres,” Mr Biswas added.
